Thousands of residents from Chibougamau, Que., and other municipalities started making their way home Monday morning after having been forced to leave due several forest fires raging in the province.
During a news conference Monday morning, Premier François Legault said residents would soon begin to return to Lac-Barrière, Oujé-Bougoumou, Waswanipi, Obedjuwan and Lac-Simon.
The premier says there will be fewer than 4,000 displaced people left by the end of the day, mostly residents from Normétal, Lebel-sur-Quévillon, Beaucanton, Val-Paradis and Saint-Lambert.
Chibougamau Mayor Manon Cyr says she feels relieved.
“Life in Chibougamau will slowly resume, one day at a time,” she told Radio-Canada’s C’est jamais pareil.
The mayor says essential services such as pharmacies and grocery stores are operational though their stocks will need to be replenished tomorrow.
The hospital has also reopened and can offer basic services, as staff continue to trickle back in.
“Of course, people with fragile health, who currently have health concerns, we don’t recommend they return immediately, … to give everyone time to settle into their functions whether that be in the hospital or other services,” she told Radio-Canada.
Students will be able to return to school as of Wednesday.
Chibougamau is still covered by a blanket of smoke from a fire burning about 20 kilometres away, but Cyr says it does not pose a risk to the population.
“It will be a long fire season,” said Cyr.
Because the risk of forest fires remains high, Cyr says travel to Chibougamau is limited to residents. Tourists or hunters and visiting fishing enthusiasts are not permitted to visit the area at this time.
In Quebec, there are currently 127 active fires affecting over a million hectares. Fire fighters are concentrating their efforts on 34 of those fires, said Quebec Public Security Minister François Bonnardel during a news conference Monday afternoon.
“To date, we’ve won the fight, it wasn’t easy,” said Bonnardel. “There are no injuries, no fatalities and there hasn’t been a single primary residence in Quebec that has burned down.”
He says he can’t give those who are still displaced an idea of when they’ll be able to head back home but thanked them for their patience.
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